#TheAspiredCXO

During the pandemic, we couldn’t escape the phrase “unprecedented times.”Now, it’s “AI this, AI that.” Honestly, I’m at the point every time I hear “AI,” I want to puke a little. I see AI on my feed, I scroll. But here’s the reality (oh, the irony).Hearing about it and doing something about it are two … Read more

Makcik ini tengah sibuk design kursus kepimpinan dua hari yang baru:“The Influential Manager: Building Leadership Through Influence & Trust” Kursus ini fokus pada cabaran paling susah untuk mana-mana pemimpin zaman sekarang.Macam mana nak buat orang ikut kita sebab mereka nak, bukan sebab mereka terpaksa. 😏 Sebelum makcik finalise isi kandungan kursus ini, Aunty nak tanya … Read more

In the recent Budget 2026 announcement, the monthly wage threshold for stamp duty exemption on employment contracts is set to increase from RM300 to RM3,000, effective 1 January 2026. This means that contracts with monthly wages at or below RM3,000 will be exempt from the RM10 stamp duty fee starting 2026. However, the act of … Read more

If your resume has 10 pages, we have a problem. 😅The more experience we have, the harder it gets to edit ourselves. Here are my recommendations you should consider: 1. Focus on the last 10 years. Recruiters care most about your recent relevance, not your entire career history. For earlier roles, you can summarise.Example: “Held … Read more

Your first resume doesn’t have to be fancy. It just needs to tell your story clearly.Details matter. Recruiters read hundreds of resumes a day, so every word must earn its place. Here are my recommendations you should consider. 1. One page, two columns.Keep it clean and simple. Research shows recruiters spend an average of 8 … Read more

He comes in early, before the lights are warm,Teh-o-ais-limau-kurang-manis trembling in his tired hand.The smile he wears is thin as paper…Folding, but never torn. He talks about targets, deadlines, growth,But his voice wavers between the words.He’s floating on expectations,Held up by sheer routine and duty. You try to help, offer small kindnesses,A listening ear, a … Read more

My husband said something interesting the other day…It’s getting harder to hire a “ready-made” successor straight from the market. And he’s right. The reality is, successors are rarely found.They’re grown.Identified early. Coached patiently. And given space to fail and learn safely. Sure, grooming a successor can feel like a long and frustrating process.Because it means … Read more

No? Let me mansplain. It’s different from Life Expectancy (obviously). Life Expectancy tells us how long we’re expected to live.Healthy Life Expectancy tells us how many of those years we’ll likely live in good health. In Malaysia, the average life expectancy is about 76 years, but our healthy life expectancy is only around 65 years. … Read more

This is a question I get asked quite often. Well… Legally, you’re still an employee until your last contractual day i.e. your last day in payroll, even if you’re on approved annual leave. This means there will always be some risk if you start elsewhere before that date. Let’s understand some basic rules first:1. Annual … Read more

Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer from Stanford University said, “There’s no such thing as too much flattery.” I agree. I tell you all to kipas, bukannya jilat! You see, power loves recognition. It’s not about being fake. It’s about being strategic.A little validation smooths friction, builds trust, and buys you space to make real change. So yes, … Read more